ASHLEY WOO, MELISSA KAY DILIBERTI, ELIZABETH D. STEINER, SABRINA LEE
Instruction About Social
and Political Topics in
K–12 Public Schools
Findings from the 2024 State of the
American Teacher Survey
T
eachers’ instruction is influenced by a multitude of factors, such as state standards, curricu-
lum materials, student needs, world events, and district or school policies. Since spring 2021,
teachers have experienced a new factor that could influence their instruction: state policies
that prohibit or limit instruction related to race, gender, or sexual orientation. The first set
of state restrictions prohibited the purported tenets of critical race theory and/or a set of concepts
perceived as divisive related to race
and gender that are connected to cri-
tiques of critical race theory, such as
unconscious bias, the notion that “the
United States is fundamentally racist
or sexist,” or the idea that individu-
als should feel “discomfort, guilt, or
anguish” because of their race or sex,
among others (Friedman and Tager,
2021). In 2022, after the passage of
Florida’s Parental Rights in Education
Act—known colloquially as the Don’t
Say Gay law—some states enacted
a second set of restrictions that
explicitly prohibit classroom instruc-
tion related to sexual orientation and
gender identity (Young, Friedman,
and Meehan, 2023).
KEY FINDINGS
■ Among the ten social and political topics the survey asked about,
teachers most frequently taught about social and emotional learn-
ing (SEL) (90 percent), stories or histories about people of color
(80 percent), and racial inequality (69 percent). Teachers least
commonly taught about gun control or gun rights (30 percent) and
pro-life or pro-choice positions (16 percent).
■ With the exception of SEL, when teachers addressed social and
political topics in class, they mostly did so infrequently.
■ Secondary school teachers—especially those teaching social
studies or English language arts—were more likely than elemen-
tary teachers and teachers of other subjects to address most of
the ten topics.
■ Teachers in states with restrictions were less likely to address SEL
and gender- and sexual orientation–related topics than their coun-
terparts in states without restrictions, even after controlling for
other potential explanatory factors.
Research Report
